The invention relates generally to optical chemical sensors, and more particularly to optical waveguide chemical sensors.
A variety of optical chemical sensors based on optical fibers and other waveguides have been developed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,005 to Klainer et al, shows a planar waveguide structure with a thin film metal coating. An external source and detector are optically coupled to the waveguide.
A problem with the prior art is that the entire sensor is not integrated, i.e., external source and detector and the entire waveguide must be replaced for a different sensing chemistry. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a waveguide chemical sensor with integrated structure and in which the sensing chemistry can be easily changed.